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We want to bless you with a free retreat!
Do you work with children, young people and/or families in our diocese? Could you spare one night away for rest, renewal, and space with God during the week beginning 13 July 2026?
As part of RECOGNISE (6–12 July 2026) - the national week celebrating everyone involved in ministry with children, young people and their families - we’re delighted to offer you a fully funded overnight retreat at Launde Abbey. This opportunity is completely free to you and to your church, thanks to national funding. We simply want to gift you the time and care you deserve.
You can choose one of these retreat dates:
• Monday 13 July - Tuesday 14 July
• Thursday 16 July - Friday 17 July
• Friday 17 July - Saturday 18 July
Arrive from 10:00am on your first day. You’ll have a full day of retreating, overnight accommodation, all meals provided, and time to continue your retreat the next day until departure at 4:00pm. Please note that places are limited, and bookings will be taken on a first come, first served basis.
You’re welcome to take part in a guided wellbeing retreat led by our team, or simply use the time to rest quietly, spend time in your room, enjoy the grounds, and join us for meals. Whatever will bless you most is absolutely fine.
Who is this for?
This retreat is primarily for those in leadership roles within children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Peterborough.
If your church is blessed with a thriving team (4+ volunteers), please consider booking only for the key leaders (a maximum of around 2–3 per church). If you wish to discuss your particular situation, please get in touch — we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
If you have questions or need help booking, please contact Corinne Broughton our Children and Youth Parish Support Worker.
Local Resourcing and Training
If you want to gather people from your benefice to develop your reach to children, young people and families, we can come and work with you. This may be over a Saturday brunch in someone’s home, or over coffee and cake in a church hall one evening, or a benefice or PCC vision day.
You might be wanting to consider:
• How we focus on children when our congregations are aging;
• How to ensure that our church worship is engaging and accessible for all ages and backgrounds;
• How our churches can help children start a journey of faith that they want to stick with though their teens and into adulthood;
• How our churches grow thriving and sustainable teams to support children, young people and families;
• Or something else! – Just let us know.
Please contact Chad Chadwick if you are interested.
Visiting Examples of Good Practice
Church is not just about Sundays. Our churches make many connections with children and families during the week, going to the places where they are. The Growing Faith Adventure describes this interconnection where children are supported through church-school-home. This may be through taking cakes for the staff at the local school every term, or helping the toddler group families get ready for school in September, or running a family day in the local park. Perhaps you would like to visit an example of this to give you some ideas for your own setting. If so, please let us know to arrange a visit.
Here are some ideas:
A rural toddler group
An outside church in a pocket park
An intergenerational coffee morning
A school happiness club See our Happiness Clubs webpage
Intergenerational services that attract the local school families
Messy church- Click here to find out more!
An urban toddler group
Forest church-Click here to read more
An intergenerational Sunday church service
Anything else? Let us know what you would like to see, and we will see if we can find you a good match.
Hubs
We have created a network of Children’s and Youth Ministry Hubs that resource, support and encourage Children’s and Youth Ministers in their work with Churches, Families and Schools. Over the last 5 years we have established 14 local hubs from Peterborough to Daventry, all connected to one another and each hosted by a couple of local children’s or youth workers.
Working with children and young people is richly rewarding and full of joy, but it can also be challenging, tiring and isolating. Here at the children and youth team, we believe it is really important for Churches and Charities to connect and pray, share resources and work as a team. We think the crossover in our ministries with Schools, Families and Churches creates a really exciting conversation about what God is doing in our area, so we gather together regularly to share our passion for working with children and young people.
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We Connect and Pray
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We Share Our Resources
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We Work as a Team
Each Hub is ecumenical. Twelve of the fourteen cover a geographical area and two are thematic (the Outdoor Church Hub and the Schools Chaplaincy Hub). The Network is hosted by a small team of representatives from Children and Youth Ministry Charities and Organisations in our area - Souster Youth, The Kitchen Table Project (Care for the Family), Northamptonshire Association of Youth Clubs and CYPF (Peterborough Diocese).
Contact Chad Chadwick for more information and to connect with your nearest hub.
What are people saying?
We are hearing from Children’s and Youth Workers how much they value being part of both a local hub and a wider network…
"At the moment we only meet for an hour on Zoom, but already we are working on joint projects together, speaking on the phone, going for 1 to 1 walks and learning from each other. I have been so encouraged, challenged and energised" Charlotte - Earls Barton
"God has created a beautiful family here. There are many positives to this – mutual support, resource-sharing, prayer, fellowship and more, but ultimately it’s for the benefit of the people we serve and to the glory of God" Hannah - Irthlingborough
"For me the network is important. It provides a place for supportive relationships, prayer and encouragement. A place where we can be truly open and honest with each, whether we are feeling great or really low" Chris - Irchester